Living with a chronic health condition can be costly and difficult to manage. Watson Ecosystem Partner iDAvatars has developed a cognitive avatar called Sophie. Sophie interacts with users to empower them to make healthy lifestyle choices to improve their conditions. Meet CEO of iDAvatars, Norrie Daroga, in this Q&A post.

Living with a chronic health condition can be costly and difficult to manage. With these diseases, people constantly require relevant information on how to improve their health and wellness. However, with the wealth of data on the internet, finding the necessary answers with a keyword search is timely and impersonal. And while continuously going to a doctor is one way to get answers, it is not practical, affordable or a possibility for most patients.

By using Watson, iDAvatars has built a mobile solution Powered by Watson to help solve this problem. The team developed a cognitive avatar named Sophie, which captures and understands information about the user to develop individualized medical and lifestyle regimes. Sophie interacts with patients to empower them to make healthy lifestyle choices to improve their conditions. This conversational solution has helped seniors and those battling chronic diseases receive relevant information when requested based on their questions and collected data. iDAvatars has implemented the conversational and personal aspect of a doctor into a mobile application that can be accessed anywhere.

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We had the chance to get the CEO of iDAvatars, Norrie Daroga’s, input on Sophie and IBM Watson:

IBM Watson Group: Why did you decide to build with Watson?

Norrie Daroga: The capability to use intent-based cognitive computing to provide knowledge to users, combined with an ecosystem where we can contribute and learn from other innovators, made this a compelling proposition.

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Watson Group: Which APIs are you using and why did you decide to build with it?

ND: Our product is an interactive user experience for mobile devices, so we use the Natural Language Classifier and Retrieve and Rank APIs. We are considering the Personality Insights API next.

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Watson Group: Why is your solution unique?

ND: It is an empathetic avatar that listens to the user. It not only provides information, but can detect mood/emotion and respond appropriately, which makes the avatar a trusted advisor/assistant over time.

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Watson Group: What advice can you give developers who want to build with Watson?

ND: Understand the power and scope of what Watson can do, so that you fully leverage the opportunity.